Here are some of my favorite healthy convenience meals and snacks that take very little time to prepare. These can be eaten on-the-go are easy to bring with you to work for in between snacks. Although of course I would prefer you to sit down and eat slowly and mindfully, sometimes this isn’t an option, and in this case a quick snack like one of the ones below will help get you through the day, keep your energy levels up, cravings down, blood sugar levels stable & are just pretty convenient in general.

A big reason why I am sharing these is because a practical problem that a lot of my clients have is allowing themselves to get too hungry. They are so busy all day, and stopping to eat is just too much of a hassle for them, so they end up extremely hungry by the end of the day and that is when binging tends to happen. They get home and eat the first thing they can find in their kitchen, whether it means going through 3 chocolate bars, a whole pack or cookies or whatever else is in sight. This starts a downward spiral as it’s frustrating for them, and it’s hard to pull out of this cycle.

With a lot of diet related issues I find many people will often look for an obscure reason why they are having these diet/eating issues, rather than zeroing in on the glaring behaviors causing the real problem. It’s human nature to do this because then it seems like a “bigger” reason out of our control, & less of our own fault somehow. Taking an honest look about what’s happening & then solving the problem in a practical way is a lot more worthwhile than bullshitting yourself. For example with binging at night I have found for most of my clients the reason is more than likely that they went way too long without eating and were just over-hungry mixed in with tired after a long day that caused them to binge. Not a “trigger”, past trauma, or emotional reason that is caused it. The issue is that we weren’t organised enough and allowed ourselves to get to that uncontrollably hungry state.

So what I am doing today is giving you some handy and practical meal/snack ideas so you can be more prepared throughout the day and hopefully avoid the crazy hangry-ness that happens at the end of the day when we go too many hours without eating.

*Please bear in mind that these snack/meal ideas all contain different macros/calorie amounts, so if you are tracking macros just be aware. Although they are mostly simple, single-ingredient food items so should be very easy to track. And it’s always a good idea to make sure each snack/meal has a protein source first and foremost then a carb and/or fat source to go along with it.

-Berries, handful of nuts and some deli meat (preferable the more unprocessed type like roast beef).

-A rye bread wrap filled with hummus, sprouts, lettuce and protein of choice e.g.: chicken/tuna

-1/2 avocado filled with diced up veggies, cooked quinoa and cottage/goats cheese (or quark which I just found in woolies which is very high protein as well)

-1-2 boiled eggs with cut up veggies-Protein balls

-1 small tub of cottage cheese or quark with cut up tomatoes and onion placed on some rye or flaxseed crackers

-Rice cakes topped with almond butter + drizzle of raw honey

-1 cut up apple smeared with nut butter

-A large bowl of salad leaves with a can of tuna or wild salmon, 1/4 avocado and lemon balsamic as a dressing.

-Egg and veggie scramble

-Handful of raw nuts stuffed into 2-3 fresh dates

-Chickpea, avocado and fresh spinach salad

-Chopped up veggies with hummus/tahini placed into a whole-wheat pita/wrap + protein of choice

-Health bowl: Raw nuts and seeds, 1-cup berries, 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt. Sprinkle of cinnamon.

-Brown rice sushi rolls found at most Japanese joints or make your own.

-Steamed veggies with quinoa and lentils. Tahini and lemon as the dressing.

-Bean salad- 1 cup of any beans: kidney, lima, cannellini etc. (buy organic where possible) on a bed of rocket leaves. Add some chicken breast or goats cheese.

-Nori wraps (seaweed sheets) filled with salad and protein of choice.

-Chia pudding- 1/2 cup chia seeds soaked in water/milk overnight topped with nuts, seeds, and berries.

-Make a smoothie- throw an egg (or protein powder), kale, spinach, berries, yoghurt, and chia seeds into a blender.

-Oats with berries, nuts, yoghurt.

-Broccoli rice with chicken breast or an egg

-Cauliflower Rice with chicken breast or an egg

-Quick salmon/chicken/tofu stir fry with ginger, chilli, sesame and greens

-Lentils sautéed with kale or greens of choice in olive oil, garlic and spices

-LEFTOVERS – leftovers are always so quick and easy! Convenience Meals + Snacks

-Soak a big bowl of you grains (quinoa, oats), nuts and seeds overnight and the place in the fridge so you can reach for them at any time.

-Make enough quinoa and brown rice on the weekend to last a few days into your workweek.

-Commit one day of the week to stocking your home with healthy produce and preparing healthy snacks e.g.: cutting up a variety of vegetables to put into the fridge or making some homemade bliss balls.

-Freeze your homemade soups and leftovers so you have access to healthy meals at anytime.